It's been couple of month now that I’m trying to buy a Mercedes and just before I decided to go with 1996 c220 I never actually looked into c230’s... 1996 c220 costs same as c230 1997. Would it be better to go with c230, does it have any advantages over c220. I know 1997 is the first year for c230 should I be looking into year 1998 or 1999.

Thanks guys.

 

What you should be looking at is the condition of both cars, both visual and mechanical. Do you have any heavy magets? If so, go over the body of each and see if there is any bondo, see if the service records are available for each car and compare, Check the fit of the bonnet, doors, trunck, to see if either have been hit. make sure everything works, Check the frame for any obvious extra welds, also check the electonic and test drive both, while driving check the mileage, I would look harder at the lower mileage car, if all the above is OK. Finally the price, remenber you get what you pay for. Also, if you can have each car check by a private Mercedes shop. I have a 99 C280, and have been told the 99 and the 00 C280 are the best of the W202 models, and I do have to agree. As far as which year is better the W202 in general is a better car then the W203 IMHO.

If any of you are members of the MBCA, their magazine The latest edition of The Star, has a very interesting interview with Mercedes's head of quality control in the states. It is very enlightening. I haven't finished the entire article yet. The article is a conversation between MBCA officials and Mercedes Benz and discusses what Mercedes is doing and it direction on quality issues.

 

Thank you for the info... it's just that for 12k i can get 1996 c220 or for 13k i can get 1998 c230. I'll keep my eye open on any new info that i can dig up...

thanks.